The cheap housing in villages like this one on the capital’s outskirts has attracted high numbers of migrant workers who have come to the city from all parts of China to work in factories. As a result, once-spacious courtyard homes are now divided into smaller crammed houses or sheds that are rented out cheaply to poor migrant workers. The city’s outlying villages are big and growing. I often see smoke rising up from these neighborhoods. At a distance, it can look as though the whole neighborhood is on fire. Only as I get closer can I make out the columns of smoke billowing from individual homes.
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